Hacia la comedia: de los valencianos a Lope (review)

Reviews147 recourses form part of a series of revisions, refinements, and testing of dualities. While the attempt to reduce an incomplete system into a coherent whole causes certain methodological problems, Canavaggio's presentation of a dramaturgy haciéndose is a major contribution to Cervantine criticism. The evolutionary frame of Cervantes dramaturge does much to remove the false points of departure which have marked studies of the theatrical works. Canavaggio's reading both comes to terms with previous criticism and provides a valid starting point for future studies. Edward H. Friedman Arizona State University WEIGER, JOHN G. Hacia la comedia: de los valencianos a Lope. Madrid: Cupsa, 1978. Paper. 246 pp. There is a ghost haunting the Valencian huerta, and it happens to be Lope de Vega's. Its presence has been traced back to the Fenix' 1588 visit to Turia, and the reasons for its wandering over the terrain revolve around the question of originality, in particular, the question of who first came upon the dramatic formula which would characterize the Spanish comedia, Lope or the Valencians. Weiger deftly steers between this Scylla and Charybdis of Spanish literary history, for to ascribe to one or to the other the «creation» of the comedia is tantamount to historical falsification or literary revisionism. Lope's crucial role in the development of the comedia is duly acknowledged, and so too is the contribution made by the Valencians. The latter constitutes the major theme of the present study. Although Weiger's replowing of the Valencian huerta reaps much the same harvest as that found in his The Valencian Dramatists ofSpain 's Golden Age (Twayne, 1976), the contour of the fields is distinct. The critical strategy employed is not new, but the results achieved prove to be illuminating . He insists on the auditory nature of the comedia, i.e., the comedia is dramatic poetry, and consequently it is destined to be understood through listening. Lope, in his Arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo, stressed the point to the Academia de Madrid: «oye atento, y del arte no disputes,/ que en la comedia se hallará de modo,/ que oyéndola, se pueda saber todo.» Weiger utilizes this conclusion to Lope's discurso to the full, and its implications constitute the major contribution of his second chapter,«Género auditivo: Teorización. » The heart of the book consists of a chapter (III) on the use of imagery throughout a play, «Género auditivo: Realización.» Imagery, for Weiger, includes, besides simile and metaphor, «el uso de colores, rimas, sonidos, métrica, tono, ritmos...» (p. 21, ? 12). The foregoing gives a fairly representative sample of what is analyzed in the third chapter. As Weiger convincingly demonstrates here and elsewhere, the beginning of any play is crucial, especially when the audience was as unruly as the notorious mosqueteros were wont to be. A play was made or undone by the manner 148Bulletin ofthe Comediantes in which the poet dramatized what Lope has called «el caso.» And the first duty ofthe poet was «avivar a los oyentes.» In this chapter Weiger provides us with some fine examples of literary sensibility and critical acuity. The fourth chapter, which deals with the poetic linking of the beginning and concluding scenes of a play («Comienzos y finales»), proves to be a disappointment. I personally found little new or significant although some of the comments on plot were quite instructive-such as how non-dramatized material affects plot structure and development. Perhaps the fragmentary nature of the book contributes to this feeling of dissatisfaction, or perhaps it is due to the idiosyncrasies of the reviewer. Although this study of Artieda, Virués, Tárrega, Aguilar and Castro (with the lion's share of space being dedicated to Guillen de Castro) does not purport to provide any startlingly new discoveries, nevertheless the book is a worthwhile contribution to comedia studies for several reasons. First of all it reminds us of what is easily overlooked: the comedia was meant to be heard; and it does so in a manner which provides us with new insights not only on the dramatic art of the Valencians but also on Lope's. Moreover, many of Weiger's...